ARK Madness
by Skystalker
Summary: The Space Colony Ark has been stopped from its collison course, and the Sonic crew are ready to go home to their beautiful planet, but when complications arise, they wonder if they'll ever get home..Or even SURVIVE. [ShadowXAmy][KnucklesXRouge]
1. Stuck

Welcome to my first fanfiction on I'm Skystalker, a 16 year old girl in Washington. xD I hope you enjoy my story. I look for CRITIQUE as well as comments, so don't be nervous to use honesty.

Note: I know this is supposed to be accurate after the Ark incident, but yes, I did spare Shadow, and he is alive in this fanfic. It's just so boring without the dark hero, y'know? I'm sure you fans will be pleased.

Enjoy the first chapter!

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**Location: Space Colony Ark**

A bright light beamed from the distance across millions upon millions of gleaming stars in a black sky, seeming to stretch on and on in a never-ending sky. What stood out most in this vast space of black and white was a beautiful blue orb.

Earth.

The place in which many living things inhabited. Perhaps the only place known to support life. What some would do to protect their only home. Not everyone wished to protect it, however..Some were bent on dominating it, so that they may rule for their own selfish desires.

Just outside the Earth floated a giant 'colony', if you will. It was very awkwardly shaped; An egg-shaped head with a large moustache, modled after a great, yet mad, scientist. This very colony had almost crashed into the beautiful planet, but was halted by one of Earth's greatest heroes..

"Sonic The Hedgehog!" A whiny, female voice cried to a hedgehog of deep blue color and peach arms, muzzles, and stomach. His eyes were a deep green color, though not one of envy. Sonic was a free-spirit who followed his own rules and lived life the way he wanted. Adventurous, Good-Hearted, and fairly cocky, is who he was, and what made him so unique. A hero at only 15 years of age, too.

The female approaching him was yet another hedgehog, though colored pink. She wore a deep red headband with three curled spikes of hair over her eyes, which were a lighter green. She wore a red dress with a white bottom on it, as well as large red and white-striped boots. Her gloves were white with golden ring cuffs, and her expression looked annoyed.

"What is it, Amy?" Sonic asked, eyebrows raised in questioning. Amy had her hands on her hips with a pouty lip and a very angry expression. "If you EVER scare me like that again, I'll..I'll never forgive you!"

Amy was referring to earlier, when Dr. Eggman had trapped him in a capsule and blasted him into space. The capsule was supposed to explode and get rid of him for good. It did explode, but he managed to sneak away just in time with a technique called 'Chaos Control'...

He sighed in exasperation. "Amy, How could I get outta there so i DIDN'T scare you, huh? I had no control over the situation! Tails--"

Just at that moment, a young fox boy with yellowish-orange fur walked over, looking fairly gloomy. He had bright blue eyes and a white muzzle, chest, and tips of his tails. That's right; he had two of them, not just one. Great for flying. Miles Prower, also known as Tails, was Sonic's best friend. The young boy's eyes wandered up to his hero guiltily. "I'm really sorry, Sonic...If i hadn't opened my big mouth, maybe you wouldn't have almost..." he trailed off miserably at the thought, but the blue hedgehog just smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about it buddy. I'm here, aren't I?" Sonic smiled, and with a blink, the young fox soon smiled back. Sadly, but still a smile. Amy stamped her foot, catching both of their attention. Angry tears formed in her eyes. "How can you be so comfortable about it, Sonic!? What if you didn't make it out in time, h-huh!?" Her voice cracked and her expression fell to sadness.

Sonic sweatdropped, eyebrows knitting back as he watched her expression. _'Uh oh...Three, two, one--'_

The 12 year old girl suddenly burst into tears and flung her arms around the blue hero, sobbing. "Ohh Sonic!" He sighed again. Sonic was pretty much used to this by now. Awkwardly he patted her back, though kept his other arm down at his side. Tails smiled with a shrug, and Sonic returned the smile, even as Amy sobbed. Loudly.

"What on Earth is all that noise...?" A smooth, womanly voice asked. The boys' heads turned to a white bat of around 18 years of age. Her eyes were a beautiful blue, eyelids covered in a darker blue shadow, and with just a touch of pink on her lower lip. She wore a heart-shaped chest-plate shirt, so to speak, and black stretchy pants. Her gloves and shoes were white with pink cuffs, and the boots had hearts on the tips. Rouge the Bat was her name.

Sonic scratched the back of his head with the one arm that wasn't patting his female friend's back. "Ehe, nothin'..Amy just got worked up again."

"I see." Rouge said simply, raising a brow at the young sobbing, trembling girl. Though the bat soon turned her head at a tall, large human walking towards them, in a red outfit with black boots and 'goggles' of some sort on his head. He had no hair, but a very long, spiky, bushy orange moustache. He towered over all of the anthropomorphic group. This was Dr. Eggman, the notorious evil genius whom Sonic The Hedgehog had to stop on various occasions of him trying to conquor the world.

Sonic lifted his gaze, narrowing his eyes at his arch nemesis of many years. The old doctor looked solemn as he spoke, looking directly at Sonic. "I know you don't like being around me any more than i like being around you...and i HATE being around you." The blue hero rolled his eyes at this. "But it seems we're going to be stuck here for quite some time."

At that moment, two others walked over. One being a red echidna with long dreadlocks and a white upside-down crescent on his chest. He had two very large gloves with two spikes on each, and had mysterious violet eyes. He was about 16 years old. Knuckles the Echidna, the guardian of the precious Master Emerald, and single resident of Angel Island.

The second figure was yet another hedgehog, male, who had black fur with red stripes on his quills, arms, and legs. One small, furry patch of white rested on his torso. Bits of red were just by his eyes, which were an intimidating crimson. Shadow the Hedgehog. The silent and cold dark hero..or villian? You could never tell with him..Even Rouge, being the skilled spy she is, cannot figure that out.

Everyone was in the room now, listening to Dr. Eggman.

"I cannot activate the shuttles for some reason. So until i figure this thing out, we're stranded here." The old doctor said with a hint of irritation in his voice. Rouge's eyes widened. "What? Stuck HERE? For how long?!"

"As long as it takes to fix the shuttles." Eggman spoke again. The bat groaned in annoyance, muttering a small 'great'. Sonic frowned before looking to Tails. "Do you think you can help him out? The sooner we figure it out, the sooner we can get home."

Tails looked up at Sonic. He was reluctant to work with his nemesis, but the blue hero did have a point, so with a hesitant nod, he walked over to the doctor, and the two headed off to check the problem.

Stuck up in the Ark...The group wondered how long they'd be up here...Or if they'd even _SURVIVE_...

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Like i said, please be honest with your crits. .; Next chappy coming soon!


	2. The Plan

**Wow, already four reviews for my first story! xD I feel so loved. Sorry that the first chapter was a bit slow, but things'll pick up! I promise. .; Now, ONTO CHAPTER 2! dundundun**

** Oh yes, before i do, to answer questions, Shadow didn't fall to the Earth in my story. He transported safely with Sonic. audience cheers XD YOU'RE WELCOME.**

**Chapter two!  
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"Augh..I can't believe we're actually stuck here.." Rouge mumbled to herself in annoyance, leaning against one of the walls next to Shadow, who had his arms crossed, head lowered and eyes closed. He wasn't much of a talkative person, nor one that would make friends easily. Rouge was really the only person he'd talk to, and even then he didn't speak much to her.

The white bat continued on with her complaints. "I mean, what are we supposed to DO here? What do we eat?"

"Stop your complaining and do something about it." Shadow spoke flatly, eyelids raising just halfway to reveal his deep red eyes full of mystery..as well as annoyance from her ramblings. Rouge stared at him in her own annoyance before sighing and realizing he had a point. Her blue eyes wandered around their surroundings. The blue hedgehog was lying down with his arms folded behind his head with his eyes closed. His pink, self-proclaimed girlfriend was sitting next to him, trying to talk to him. It appeared that he wasn't listening, since her expression looked exasperated.

"Hmm..what to do?" She murmured to herself. Tails and the Doctor were away working on the problem..and then there was Knuckles. He was off to the side, tossing random punches in the air while shifting from foot-to-foot, seemingly attacking invisible enemies. Rouge's eyes flashed in interest, and when an idea formed in her mind, she grinned and made her way over.

"Say, echidna.." She spoke in her typical smooth voice. He lifted his head and merely glanced at her. "Mind if I join you for round two?"

She implied a fight. Or a sparring match. He now looked at her for a moment before smirking in confidence. "Fine, if you promise not to cry when I beat you."

Rouge's eyes widened a bit before narrowing, a smirk of her own forming. "Ohh, you're goin' down, knucklehead."

Meanwhile, as the two treasure hunters fought, Amy had stood and walked gloomily around, depressed that her blue hero wouldn't listen to her." Whats wrong with me, huh..? Why doesn't he like me? Am i not pretty enough?" The pink hedgehog truly wondered why Sonic wouldn't love her like she did him.

"It's because you're annoying him." A low voice replied to her, causing the young girl to jump slightly and turn her head. Shadow's eyes rested on her, arms still crossed, and still leaning against the wall. Amy frowned. "I...am?"

"Yes. He doesn't love you. Just accept that fact and move on." Shadow stated plainly, like it wasn't a big deal. It was to her. A saddened expression appeared on her face before turning her head back to where Sonic lay. Her hero's expression seemed careless. Maybe Shadow was right...

She sighed and looked back to Shadow. Normally she wouldn't even bother talking to someone like him, especially after all the chaos and destruction he helped cause, but...he did also help save the Earth after all. She figured maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all. It wasn't like he was attacking anyone right now, even though he had every chance to do so.

"I don't know if i can just move on.." Amy said quietly, miserably. The black hedgehog glanced at her. "How long have you had such affections for him, anyway?" Just curiosity from him. Amy looked up in thought. "Ever since the day he first saved me..That was YEARS ago." A sad smile came upon her face. "Even though he totally tries to avoid me, he always comes to my rescue. Maybe he does like me.." 

"A friendship at best." Shadow said, glancing out the window, which revealed a beautiful view of their own home, planet Earth. He lowered his eyelids in rememberance of the only person he could care about...He vowed to protect the planet just for her.

_ 'Maria...'_

His thoughts were interrupted when Knuckles came flying towards them, hitting the wall right next to Shadow. Amy yelped slightly from surprise as the red echidna coughed and got up onto his feet, glaring ahead of him at a very satisfied looking bat, despite her minor scratches and scrapes. "Hehe, I think I won."

"In your dreams, bat girl!" The red echidna proclaimed, but before he could dash at her, Tails came into the main area, calling for their attention.

"Okay, I think we might have figured out the problem, but we're going to need a few things to fix it." The young fox boy said, wiping his forehead, his other hand holding a few sheets of paper. "I've compiled a list of supplies for you guys to get for us. The sooner we get it, the sooner we can head back home."

Sonic lifted his eyelids all the way with a grin. "Great! We should split up so we can get the supplies faster." He leaped up onto his feet and like a bolt of lightning zoomed over to Tails in a blue streak. Sonic took the list and examined it. "We could divide the list and assign each person some items to get."

So it was decided. No one objected to the idea, since everybody was eager to get home. They figured it a simple task, but they would soon find that it wasn't all that easy. Not only was the ARK incredibly large, but Shadow and the Biolizard weren't the only experiments lurking...

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**Ooooh, what's gonna happen to our dear Sonic crew? Find out in the next chapters! (The romance shall come soon for you fangirls/boys. XD**


	3. Attack

**Woo! I got 6 reviews. feels special xD; Yes, fluff shall come soon, but i don't want to rush the story, so just wait and it'll come soon enough. P**

** Chapter Threeeeee!**

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Amy, as if not even reflecting on what had happened earlier, or listening to Shadow's words, immediately latched onto Sonic. "I wanna go with YOU!" She cried happily. Sonic stared down at her with a sweatdrop. "Uhh, can't!" and after quickly departing from her, he sped over to his furry little fox friend. "I'm with Tails!"

Tails blinked. "Huh? But i need to--"

"Aww i'm sure ol' Egghead can handle himself for a while, buddy!" The blue speedy hero looked down at his best friend with almost a desperate look, after a glance towards the 'Pink Menace'. Glancing between the two, Tails sighed and nodded. "Okay Sonic, you're with me."

The pink girl pouted with a small 'aww' in disappointment. Shadow simply shook his head and began walking away, and, unexpectedly spoke. "Come, Amy. You're with me."

Both the pink and the blue hedgehogs blinked rapidly from surprise. Sonic would've expected that Shadow be reluctant to have a nuisance with him, and Amy was surprised he wouldn't suggest going alone, but nodded with a smile and started jogging up behind him anyway. Shadow mostly did it so there wouldn't be too much discussion over something as small as who goes with who. Besides, even if she didn't trust him, she wasn't a threat, so if Amy decided HE was, then there wouldn't be much of a fight to take her down.

"Hehe..I think i'll just be going this way then..." Rouge spoke cooly, and was about to walk off, but was halted by Knuckles grabbing her wrist firmly. "Hey, what the--?"

"I don't trust you alone. I'm going with you." His voice was just as firm as his grip, eyes narrowed on her. Rouge arched a brow at him, though had an almost unseeable tint of pink on her cheeks from the contact, though she shook it off with a 'hmph' and the turn of her head in sass. "Fine, echidna, since you can't seem to be away from me for long." After a moment she yanked her hand from him.

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "You sure that you two aren't going to kill eachother?"

"I can't make any promises." Knuckles muttered. "But i'm not allowing this sneaky, theiving bat to wander around alone." Rouge rolled her eyes, speaking with much sarcasm in her voice. "What a gentleman."

"Psh, not like you're a lady yourself!" Knuckles snapped back, and the two walked off, arguing, of course. Typical love-hate behavior, as the rest of the Sonic crew thought. So it was just Sonic and Tails at this point.

"Ready to go, lil buddy?" A white, gloved hand rested on the fox boy's shoulder, and with an eager smile and nod from Tails, the two best friends took off.

Meanwhile, with the old doctor...

"Good, the little rats are gone." He mumbled tiredly, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair. "Maybe i can get some sleep before they come back."

** With Shadow and Amy**

The two hedgehogs walked into a giant room filled with mechanical devices and electronics. Hundreds upon hundreds of flashing and beeping lights were all around, as well as soft 'buzz' and 'rrrrr' sounds being emitted every so often. The celing was about 100ft high, the room itself being circular. Amy was amazed. "Woaaah.."

Shadow was not impressed. He was used to the ARK by now. Even some of its more spectacular rooms. "What's the first thing on the list?" He asked, eyes merely glancing. With a small 'oh!' of realization, Amy took out their part of the list and read. "Umm, it's...Uhh.." She had trouble pronouncing the word. Shadow simply snatched the list from her and read with ease. "Gticertinanite. Simple. I know where that is."

** (A/N: No, that is not a real...thing xD I made it up on the top of my head. As i will most likely do with others.)**

"Ticer-wha? What's that?" Amy inquired curiously, walking close beside him while he kept his eyes ahead. "It's a special chemical used for rocket fuel that the scientists developed here on the ARK..There should be a sufficient supply in this room." The young girl was amazed by his knowledge. He certainly seemed much more intelligent than Sonic! Just also much, much quieter.

"Wow, Shadow! You sure do know a lot about this place, huh?" Amy said with a smile, hands folded behind her with her fingers intertwined. He simply shrugged, his crimson orbs wandering around the gigantic room. "I could have sworn it was here--"

** KSSSSH-BOOM!**

Amy gasped, spinning around to see the door they had just entered from closed and locked. Shadow turned his head, tensing up as the 'BOOM' of the door closing echoed in the now dead-silent room. His eyes narrowed, knowing that dead-silence didn't last long...The pink female whimpered softly and slinked back to Shadow, finding a little sense of security by clutching onto his arm. He didn't bother moving her, keeping all of his focus on what was happening around them.

Suddenly, a terrible screech was emitted, and out of nowhere, a decent sized grey and red robot dashed towards them. It had monkey-like characteristics, and was incredibly fast. Amy shrieked in surprise, but Shadow was quick enough to react. He yanked out the green Chaos Emerald from behind him, and cried out. "**Chaos Spear!**"

Almost instantly, many, many golden spears sped towards the robot, piercing it until it's eventual demise, when it exploded with parts flying all over, some flying towards them, though Shadow managed to smack one away. He glanced down at Amy, who still held his arm in a death grip. "Are you alright?"

She looked up at him, a little shooken up by the sudden attack, but nodded. "U-uh huh.."

Though it was not the only robot. Soon, even more high pitched, ear shattering screeches were heard, and even more of the monkey-like robots started surrounding them. Shadow growled, clutching the emerald in one hand. This was going to be some battle. He lightly tugged his arm away from Amy, and murmured lowly to her.

"Get your hammer ready..."

** With Knuckles and Rouge**

"Must you watch me like a hawk, Knucklehead?" Rouge complained as Knuckles trailed close behind her. He had kept his word, as well as his eye on her. He responded flatly and truthfully. "I'm not letting you out of my sight for a second, Bat."

The female rolled her eyes. "That makes me question what you're actually looking at--Wah!" Before she could finish her sentence, she tripped and fell to the ground, wincing slightly. "Oww.." The echidna looked down at her, for a brief second worried, though soon puzzled when he caught sight of what had tripped her. It was a peculiar piece of metal; a part of a robot, perhaps. He knelt down and picked it up to look at it. "Huh..why was this lying around..?"

Rouge rolled onto her back and sat up. "Oh, that's fine, don't even ask me if I'M okay." She spoke with sass and annoyance, and with a blink from him, he stood up once more and offered a hand to her, muttering a small, quick apology. After a moment, she took his hand and stood up, not even bothering to thank him. Though it was mostly from the slight flush in her cheeks from holding his hand again.

He brushed his knees off some with the free hand, and didn't let go of her hand right away. It wasn't like she wanted him to, anyway. Finally, after noticing the silence from her, he looked to their hands, widened his eyes just slightly and released it with a clearing of his throat and an unnoticable pink on his cheeks. "You alright?" Knuckles finally asked. She nodded, rubbing her arm some. "Yeah, just fine..."

"Good. Now let's keep moving." He stated firmly, but did not move. Rouge stared at him, confused as to why he wasn't walking, but soon found out once he stared back at her expectantly and pointed in the direction they were going. She let out an aggrivated sigh. "I'm not gonna bail on you or anything, alright?!" But she started walking anyway, annoyed. He followed close behind, muttering. "I'm not taking any chances..."

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** Well how was that? There'll be a lil more fluff and some more action soon. I hope this'll satisfy you guys until the next update. .; Keep up the reviews, guys! XD**


	4. Danger

**And chapter four is here! I've noticed the previous chapters were fairly short, but bear with me. I'll try to make this one longer. xD;**

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**With Sonic and Tails**

"Wow, Tails, what language are you writing in?" The blue blur questioned as he looked at their list, scratching the top of his head in confusion. The items on it were very difficult to read. Their names were rather large, unpronouncable words, or to Sonic, anyway. Tails chuckled. "English. Don't worry. I know exactly what they are. I just don't know exactly where to find them.." The young fox was not familiar with the ARK. Infact, the two friends had just been wandering this whole time in hopes of finding something familiar to what Tails was talking about.

Sonic handed the list to him. "Didn't you ask ol' egghead for a map or something?" The fox boy frowned some. "The map is electronic and stored on the computer system, but I did download it wirelessly with my PalmComputer." He pulled out a small device that fit in the palm of his hand. It activated and showed a map of where they were. "Nifty!" Sonic commented, then blinked, pointing. "What are those red dots?"

"Red dots..?" The eight year old questioned, looking at the screen before widening his blue eyes. The red dots were moving quickly toward the blue dots; which was THEM. "Sonic, be on your guard!" He cried quickly, lifting his eyes with a look of slight fear on his face, the little computer beeping rapidly the closer the threat had gotten to them. Noting his seriousness, Sonic nodded and clenched his fists, getting into a stance and looking around.

**BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP---...**

The sound had stopped suddenly, causing Tails' heartbeat to increase, beads of sweat forming as he stayed perfectly still. He tried his best to listen in, but all was silent...for now. Sonic glanced over at him, a look of concern on his face. "Tails, what's going on...?"

**KABOOM!**

A large being crashed from the celing. It was a metal monstrocity. The machine was well over 4 times their size and width, being bulky and rough looking, though having built in weaponry as well. Rockets, Machine Guns, Lasers and even a blade on one arm. It's red eyes glowed brightly.

"Woah..What's THAT!?" Sonic asked. Tails took a step back, still having bulged eyes. "It's e-either a massive security bot, or a monster!"

The blue hero looked up at the giant machine, though narrowed his eyes with gritted teeth. "Either way, we're gonna have to take it down!" and without a second thought, Sonic recklessly sped forward through a spindash, curving upward in an attempt to rip through it's chest. The attempt failed when the massive metal monster swung one of its arms with a thick "WHOOSH!" sound, knocking the hero back to the ground brutally.

"SONIC!" Tails cried, rushing over to him. The stubborn teen mumbled, rubbing his head. "Augh..Dont worry, it's just..a scratch...That thing is TOUGH." His green eyes wandered to the robot who was slowly stomping towards them. "Really tough...Is it Eggmans?"

Tails' eyebrows furrowed down in thought. "I don't think so...Though if i know robots, there's always atleast one weak area where it is vulnerable. No one has ever made the perfect robot." The young fox's eyes scanned the entire machine, desperately trying to find a weak point. His eyes rested on the robot's head. "There! The top of the head! That's where we attack!"

Sonic stood, smirking suddenly. "Alright..It's gonna be just like old times, lil buddy." The hero looked down at his best friend with a thumbs up. Tails smiled and returned the thumb right back at him. He always enjoyed working by Sonic's side. Sonic was his idol, after all.

The two turned to the mechanical monster with serious faces..then, Tails' lept into the air...

**With Shadow and Amy**

The two hedgehogs stood back to back in the middle of a circle of monkey-like robots. There were robot parts all over the place from the ones they demolished, but many still remained. It seemed like an endless flow of enemies. Amy was panting, clutching her Piko Piko hammer. Shadow's panting was silent, and not as heavy, but he kept the emerald clutched to him. The robots began closing in.

"Th-there's too many of them, Shadow!" Amy cried, holding the hammer defensively. "We'll never be able to defeat them all!" As if on cue, right after she spoke, one of them leaped at her. She screamed and slammed her hammer into it, knocking it away like a baseball into one of the walls. Shadow glanced at her. "Nice swing." It was hard to tell if he was joking or serious.

More of them began leaping, and one by one, Amy swung her hammer, and Shadow either stomped down on their heads, or sent hundreds of burning-bright yellow spears at them. He had to admit, Amy was doing very well without his constant assistance. He thought he'd have to do all the fighting. It certainly was a relief to him that the twelve year old could fight.

"Take this! And this!" Amy was smashing another one to the ground repeatedly, but wasn't aware of one closing in behind her. Suddenly, Shadow heard a very pained scream, and turned his head once he demolished another one. "Amy!"

One of the robots had slashed her arm. Deep. Thick red liquid was trailing down it quickly. It didn't stop even when she clutched it with her hand. The blood just seeped through her fingers. Without any more hesitation, Shadow, using his air shoes, sped towards her just as they began surrounding her. With an enraged cry, he sent more of his Chaos Spears into them to destroy them before they could harm her. Even with all they destroyed just then, STILL more came. The black hedgehog knelt down beside her, for once, feeling worried about her. More of the monkey-robots charged, and with only a second wasted, he held out his emerald, which began to glow, and used his other arm to clutch the injured girl to him.

**"Chaos...CONTROL!"**

Within moments, the two were surrounded by bright lights, which stunned the robots just long enough for the light to embrace them completely. When the light cleared, the hedgehogs were gone from the locked room.

The same light appeared in a completely different area of the ARK, dropping the two hedgehogs to the ground. Amy let out a yelp of pain when Shadow's arm around her touched the wounded area. He pocketed the emerald and took gentle hold of the injured arm to look at it. He didn't bother to ask if she was okay, because it was obvious she wasn't. "It's a deep wound..." he murmured quietly. "We've got to stop the bleeding."

Her eyes raised up to him, tearing up, but just nodding shakily. She wasn't used to this kind of pain. The black hero looked around, hoping to find some sort of bandage, but no luck. Soon, he glanced down at her red and white dress. After a moment, he reached down for the white strip of it, and tore it off completely. Amy blinked. "W-what are you--?"

"Sorry." He said absent-mindedly, just focused on helping her. He took her arm again and began wrapping it the best he could with the strip of fabric, then tying it on tightly to stop the blood flow. Amy just watched with the occasional wince, though her eyes wandering to him in slight surprise. _'He's...Helping me..'_ the pink hedgehog thought, not feeling quite as scared now.

"There." Shadow spoke, releasing her arm. "That should help you for now.." He stood, and to her surprise, offered a hand to help her up. Amy reached up with her good hand and took it, standing. "T-thanks, Shadow..."

"Don't worry about it.." he spoke solemnly, his mind wandering to the robots they had just battled. _'Where did they come from..? I don't remember the doctor ever building them...atleast, not here..'_ His red eyes narrowed in thought. The young girl blinked up at him. "Shadow..?"

After a minute, he shook his head. "Come on, we've got to keep going." However, he made sure to have her walk beside him instead of behind him. He wouldn't risk having her hurt again. It was strange even to him why he cared about her safety, but he'd ponder that later on. Shadow just wanted to focus on surviving.

**With Rouge and Knuckles**

"Hahaha! I just think it's cute that you're getting worked up over a stupid broken piece of metal!" Rouge laughed. Knuckles fumed. "How is it CUTE? I have a perfectly good reason to be a little on the edge!" The bat shook her head with a grin. "Knuxie, there's PLENTY of metal things here...It's like getting worked up over GRASS. You have nothing to worry about."

"Look, i just have a bad feeling is all!" He tried to reason with her, but she just continued giggling. This girl was such a pain to him sometimes...The two half-aimlessly wandered into a room, which had a computer with a giant screen. Almost immediately, Rouge walked over to it, eager to figure out what was on it. It was part of her being a spy. Knuckles blinked and walked over, standing by her. "What are you doing?"

"Just gonna look at a few things" She chimed, fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard. Within a few minutes, diagrams and blueprints of robot-types came on screen. The echidna looked up with a tilted head. "What's all this...?" The female bat began to read silently before speaking. "It seems like a huge list of diagrams and internal workings of several different robots...There's the Class-C, which are just little fighter robots..Class-B are defense robots..and Class-A's are the larger, more dangerous ones, well equipped with weaponry..I take it theses robots were created to get rid of intruders on the ARK.."

"D'ya think maybe that was what you tripped over? A robot part?" Knuckles' eyes wandered down to her. "Maybe..." she spoke quietly in thought, looking up. Out of nowhere, an alarm blared with the screen of the computer turning red, "INTRUDER ALERT" brightly displayed on the screen. "Uh oh..!" The bat said, jumping up from the seat. "I think it's time we got out of here!"

"Come on!" Knuckles grabbed her hand and dashed out of the room. A moment they passed the doors, a terrible explosion occured behind them, most likely a bomb to take out the intruder. Both fell to the ground from the force of it. The echidna's hand still gripped Rouge's.

"Augh..what the hell just happened..?" Knuckles grunted, sitting up. Rouge sat up as well, a little dizzy from the sudden fall. "I don't know..but that could have been US." her eyes wandered downward, as did his once he spoke a small 'yeah' in agreement. First their eyes locked on their hands, then wandered up and locked on eachothers, unblinking.

For a full minute the two stayed locked in a gaze, Rouge feeling that damned fuzzy feeling in her stomach. The feeling was mutual for Knuckles, his hand still holding hers, though more gently from the grip he had when he yanked her out of the room. Finally, they both snapped out of the daze, Rouge yanking her hand away from his with a deep red coming to her cheeks. "Just can't seem to keep your hands off of me, huh, knucklehead!?" A forced smirk.

He blinked before turning away with a look of heavy annoyance. "In your dreams, batgirl! I just wasn't paying attention!" A light blush did take place on his cheeks, though. "Suuuure you weren't." She cooed, laughing to hide her embarassment. He grumbled and stood up. "Think what you want."

She stood and brushed herself off. "Sometimes you are just too clingy--"

**Boom!**

A thud was heard right above them, then an annoying metal-on-metal scratching sound. With a yelp, Rouge latched onto Knuckles' arm. He didn't notice at first, because his eyes were up at the celing. The sound stopped eventually, both treasure hunters tense. What on earth was up there, anyway? Was it a robot?

Knuckles glanced down at her, still afraid, and still latched onto his arm. "NOW who's being clingy?" He asked with an arched brow. Rouge blinked before releasing him with a slight push away from her, crossing her arms. "Hmph!" Her cheeks reddened all over again. The red echidna shook his head, muttering something about the 'crazy bat', then walked ahead. "Let's get going before something ELSE happens."

She lifted her head. "Hey! Don't you leave me behind, Knucklehead!" Rouge soon darted after him, though stayed rather close as they continued to search for the necessary items to get them home.

The longer they spent here, the more creepy and dangerous things had gotten..

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** Whew! Hopefully that was long enough for you. Hehe, added action AND fluff. P Enjoy! Next chapter soon.**

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